Skip to content

Happ responds to Mariners' Gordon: 'It's absurd' to think I threw at him

Elsa / Getty Images Sport / Getty

To say that New York Yankees left-hander J.A. Happ was taken aback by Dee Gordon's comments about his pitching might be an understatement.

The Seattle Mariners second baseman was livid after Happ hit him on the wrist with an inside pitch Thursday, an incident that forced the speedster to exit the game with an injury.

(Courtesy: MLB.com)

"I was pissed off," Gordon said Thursday. "It was the second time he threw up by my head. ... You can't throw that pitch. I got a family. You need to get the ball, you need to get the ball the f--- down."

Happ responded to Gordon on Friday, not only maintaining that the pitch in question was unintentional but voicing anger of his own over the words directed his way.

"I took offense to it. I think it's absurd," Happ told Brendan Kuty of NJ.com.

"I would like to think he was running on emotion when he said it," Happ continued. "I would like to give him some benefit of the doubt there. I played with his dad (former All-Star Tom Gordon). I've been doing this for a little while. It's sort of like an insult thrown at me.

"Using each side of the plate is the way the game's been played for the last 150 years. I think it was sort of embarrassing and disappointed that it was even a headline. I would like to think that he regrets saying it but maybe not."

Happ added that he has no intention of reaching out to Gordon to discuss the incident.

Gordon did expand on some of his frustration Friday, clarifying his "second time" comment to Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. According to Gordon, Happ apparently threw a high-and-tight pitch at him in 2015. Happ was pitching for the Pittsburgh Pirates at the time, while Gordon was a member of the Miami Marlins.

The 31-year-old said his initial prognosis following Thursday's play was a broken wrist, but follow-up exams all returned negative and the Mariners are listing him as day-to-day, according to Divish. Gordon was held out of the lineup on Friday and will rest for a couple more days before starting to swing again.

Daily Newsletter

Get the latest trending sports news daily in your inbox